University of Maine
New Hampshire
Field Hockey Loses Close Conference Opener, 3-2
10/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine field hockey team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 conference opening loss to America East foe New Hampshire on a rainy and windy Friday evening. The loss snaps Maine's five game winning streak as they fall to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in America East play. The Wildcats improved to 8-3 and 1-0 in conference play with the victory. The Black Bears were led by juniors Jocelyn Mitchell (Kanata, Ontario) and Stephanie Gardiner (Vancouver, British Columbia) who each notched a goal for Maine.
The Black Bears opened the scoring 24:16 into the first half when Mitchell picked up her eleventh goal of the season. Fellow junior Kelly Newton (Vancouver, British Columbia) sent a shot at the Wildcat cage that was blocked but found Mitchell's stick. Mitchell beat New Hampshire goaltender Katherine Nagengast to put Maine up 1-0.
The Black Bears would take a 2-0 lead into the half when Gardiner fired a shot by Nagengast. Freshman Alexa Binnendijk (Den Haag, Holland) found Gardiner just inside the circle on the right side of the field. Gardiner gathered the ball and sent a rocket that slammed the back of the cage with 1:20 left to play in the first half.
New Hampshire opened the scoring in the second half when Whitney Frates sent a pass from around midfield to Hayley Rausch. Rausch carried the ball into the Maine circle and beat Black Bear goaltender Brittany Fleck to cut the Maine lead in half at 2-1.
The Wildcats would tie the score with 3:55 remaining in the second half. Frates dribbled the ball in towards the Maine cage and slid a shot in, tying things at two goals apiece.
New Hampshire would take advantage of a corner play with just 10 seconds left on the clock. The ball was slid into play and after a pair of fake shots, Kyle Lyons sent a shot towards the Maine cage. The shot found Frates on the right post as she hit the back of the cage with just five seconds remaining, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 win.
Fleck made eight saves for the Black Bears as her record slips to 7-2. Nagengast made 11 saves for New Hampshire and improves to 8-3.
The Black Bears outshot New Hampshire by a 15-13 margin. Penalty corners were knotted as each team had seven apiece.
Maine returns to action Sunday when they travel to take on Dartmouth. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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